


Everything

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, Discovery, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Het, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 05:59:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3436067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris finds out about her dad and Caitlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything

**Author's Note:**

> February Bingo prompt: I love you more than...

Iris turned her key in the lock and let herself in, grinning as she heard her dad's music playing on the stereo, her grin widening when she smelled dinner cooking. He wasn't in the living room so she bypassed the roaring fire, heading past the dining room table set for two towards the kitchen. She was expecting to see her dad, maybe Barry with him, the two of them probably talking about crime scenes or baseball or whatever crossed either of their minds. 

It wasn't Barry who was with her dad though and Iris blinked in surprise, though her surprise was nothing to theirs, both of them jumping when she spoke. 

"Caitlin, hi, I didn't know you'd be here."

She was smiling as she said it, even though the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up as if something was wrong. The sensation only grew stronger when Caitlin looked up at Joe, a stricken look on her face. Iris looked at her dad, saw him swallow hard, a look on his face she'd only seen a handful of times, most recently when he had to tell her that Barry was in a coma. 

Then the pieces fell into place. 

Her dad's music playing on the stereo - Donny Hathaway, "A Song for You," and as she'd approached the kitchen, she'd heard him singing along, not quietly like he did when he was doing it absentmindedly, but the same way he used to sing her favourite songs to her when she was a kid and he'd dance her around the kitchen. 

A fire dancing in the fireplace, a table set for two, a bottle of red open to breathe beside two of the "best" wine glasses, the ones they only used for special occasions. 

Her dad and Caitlin, standing close to one another until they heard her, when they'd jumped apart like scalded cats. 

That split second before they'd jumped apart, the way Caitlin was smiling up at Joe, the way he'd been looking at her...

"Oh my God, am I interrupting something?" She could hardly believe she was saying the words but the look that passed between Caitlin and Joe left her in no doubt. "Oh my God, I am." She covered her mouth with one hand, the other steadying herself by gripping the back of one of the chairs tightly. 

"Iris." Joe was approaching her, both hands out and she couldn't tell if he was about to try to stop her from collapsing or trying to calm her. "This isn't what it looks like..." 

Behind Joe, Caitlin lifted an eyebrow but even without that, Iris wouldn't have bought it. Spreading an arm, she waved behind her, encompassing the table, the music, all of it. "Seriously?"

Joe grimaced, glancing back at Caitlin briefly. "Ok, so it is what it looks like," he acknowledged. "But this isn't how we wanted you to find out."

Iris blinked. "So you wanted me to find out." She could count on the fingers of one hand, without using her thumb, the amount of times her dad had introduced her to anyone he was seeing. "This is a thing."

"Yes." Joe's voice was firm and he reached back, held out his hand for Caitlin to take. "This is a thing." When Caitlin put her hand in his, he laced their fingers together, pulled her close so they were standing side by side. "This is everything."

Iris shook her head, eyes ricocheting from her dad's serious expression to Caitlin's blushing smile to their joined hands and back again. "How long?" she asked, tracking back mentally over every conversation, every encounter she'd had with either of them, trying to figure out how the hell she'd missed this - some investigative skills she had, she thought, if this was going on underneath her nose and she'd never noticed. 

"A couple months," Joe told her. "We were waiting to tell you.. To see where we were going." He swallowed hard, shifted on his feet. "Look, I know this is a shock..."

Iris laughed in amazement, letting go of the chair to push her hair back with both hands. "We were out together last week," she said to Caitlin. "Barry and I spent the whole night checking out cute guys to set you up with." Caitlin's eyes grew wide as she looked up at Joe, who looked down at her with a look Iris knew well; it was his "why am I only hearing about this now?" look, the one he'd perfected during her high school years, using it often on her and Barry. Belatedly, she realised how that comment sounded and she waved her hand as if to dismiss it. "Don't worry, Dad, she wasn't interested in any of them." Iris chuckled, tilted her head because now that made sense. "Guess I understand why now." 

Joe grinned down at Caitlin, an expression on his face that Iris had rarely seen there, one that made her stomach twist, and not in a bad way. Caitlin's cheeks flushed and she grinned right back and Iris had the idea that they'd forgotten she was there for a moment. 

When they remembered, it was Joe who spoke first. "Iris, this isn't something we rushed in to... We both knew that this is going to be weird for you, and Barry..."

Suddenly, through a gap in her fog of shock, Iris figured out the main expression on his face, in his voice, was fear. "You think I'm angry?"

Joe blinked. "You mean you're not?"

Iris frowned, taking a moment to soft through her emotions, just to be sure. "Dad, I'm not angry." It was the truth and his shoulders slumped with relief. "I'm surprised... and yeah... it's going to be weird." She gestured at the two of them, at their still joined hands. "You're my dad, and you're my friend." She bit her lip, shook her head. "But if this is making you both happy... I guess I love you more than I hate the weird." She shrugged, wishing she'd found a nicer way to phrase it but when her dad grinned at her, when he let go of Caitlin's hand and crossed the room to Iris, pulling her into a hug, she thought that maybe it wasn't so bad after all. 

"Why don't you stay, have dinner with us?" Joe asked her as he let her go and she wrinkled her nose, shook her head. 

"I don't really feel like being a third wheel," she said and when it looked like they were going to protest, she quipped, "Besides, I think I'll head home... I'll be busy... changing all of Caitlin's details on my phone to 'Stepmonster'..." 

She was teasing and Caitlin smiled as her cheeks flamed red. "We deserved that," she said to Joe and Iris widened her eyes, mock innocently, as she backed her way out of the kitchen.

"Dad..." she said, still grinning, "we're not going to have to have 'the talk' again, are we?" That was the cue for Joe's cheeks to darken and for the look on his face to turn from happy relief to a combination of humour and mortification. 

"I'm taking back my invitation," he called to her and she shot him one last grin, holding up her hands in surrender as she headed to the front door. 

She'd barely closed it behind her before she was digging her cell phone from her purse. "Barry?" She said when he picked up. "I hope you're sitting down for this..."


End file.
